The players all did light morning exercises without any effects from yesterday's long-distance travel.
Afterwards, we had breakfast and moved to the tournament venue. The venue used the training facilities of 1FC Union Berlin and the 24 teams from all over the world gathered to take a group photo and hold the opening ceremony with the motto "Football for Friendship".
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At the lottery, FC Tokyo was placed in Group A and will compete in the qualifying league with three teams: MTK Budapest (Hungary) and Atletico Madrid (Spain).
The first match of the qualifying league was against MTK Budapest. It was the first match and the tournament format was unique (16 minutes with a slightly larger field than a 7v7 futsal court), so anything could happen. However, we were able to score a goal in the first 5 minutes and continued to score, ending the match with 4 goals and a 4-0 victory.
The second match of the qualifying league was against Atletico Madrid. The opponent has already suffered one loss, but in order for FC Tokyo to advance to the next round, they cannot afford to lose. Unfortunately, they conceded a goal early on in the match.
After that, we were able to catch the rhythm and immediately equalized, winning 3-1. We were able to advance to the qualifying league in first place.
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Due to the regulations of the tournament, there is no time to have lunch, so we use the catering service for fruits and drinks inside the special tent on the grounds to replenish our energy.
The first match of the Final Tournament (Quarterfinals) is about to begin.
The opponent is Slovan (Slovakia).
We feel the difficulty of the final round tournament as we continue to lose two points in a row due to our own coordination mistakes against opponents with the ability to advance to the final round tournament.
However, they calmly scored two goals afterwards and ended the game in a 2-2 tie. The game will now go into a 5-minute overtime.
In the extra time, we scored 3 goals without losing our focus and advanced to the semifinal round.
And the opponent in the semifinal round is Rapid (Austria). It will be an absolute must-win battle for tomorrow's final.
Rapid is a team that can progress the game while involving everyone in both offense and defense, including individual techniques and decisions, even when watching the qualifying league.
Tokyo, perhaps exhausted from consecutive games, conceded multiple points and ultimately lost 3-5, ending the tournament in the top 4.
Unfortunately, we were unable to advance to the final round, but playing against a team like Rapid revealed our weaknesses and showed us what we need to work on, which was a valuable experience.
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After the game, we took a late lunch and toured around Berlin by bus, visiting historical buildings such as the Berlin Wall before returning to the hotel.
Tomorrow, we want to expand our soccer values by experiencing the real thing through watching Mr. Beckenbauer's forum and the AFC Champions League final round.
